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(No Model.)

K N m kh 11KB O H m E L E O T Patented Jan. 4, 1887.

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vthings to the subscriberwho called up" the purpose of attending to whatever business he UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CHARLES CHINNOCK, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TELEPHON E-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,383, dated'J'anuary 4, 1887.

\ Application filed January 6, 1886. Serial No.187,76-i. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.- I

Beit known that 1-, CHARLES E. CHINNOGK, of Brooklyn, in Kings county, in the State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Telephone-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

My improvement relates to the means whereby subscribers to a telephone system are signaled from the central office.

According to the present practice, if a telephone subscriber wishes to be connected with another subscriber he calls the operator at the central office, telling this operator thename of the person with whom he wishes to comniunicate. The operator then seeks to make the necessary connection of the subscribers wires. This occupies quite a little time. Meanwhile the subscriber who called the operator usually sits down to his desk for the may have on hand. The operator, as soon as the necessary connections have been made between the wires of the two subscribers, or as soon as he shall have found out that the line or wire of the subscriber with whom communication was desired is connected otherwise and is being used, announces the condition of central office. To announce this he rings the bell connected with the telephone of the subscriber who called him up, and when the subscriber steps to his teleph one announces to the latter that the necessary connection could not be made because the subscriber with whom communication was desired was communicating with some one else. Much unnecessary waste of time is occasioned in this way.

The object of my improvement is to provide for indicating to the subscriber calling up the central ot'fice that the communication he desired cannot then be had without causing him to go to the telephone. This I accomplish by providing for the giving of two signals from the central office one to indicate that the necessary connections have been made to afford the desired communication, and the other to announce that this connection could not be made because the subscriber with whom he desired communication happened to be occupied.

The accompanying drawing is a diagram illustrating my improvement.

I have only shown in my diagram the central office of a telephone system and an office in the central office, and marked the words central office adjacent to this line. Likewise I have drawn a line around the parts located in the subscribers office, and marked the words subscribers office adjacent to this line.

A designates a line-wire extending between the subscribers ofice and the central office. B designates a switch-board in the central office. The latter may be of any desirable construction. The line-wire A may, by means of the switchboard, be connected with line-wires of other subscribers. Normally the line-wire A will be connected with this switch-boardin such manner as to communicate electrically with the wire C leading from the switchboard.

The wire 0 connects with two branch wires, 0 0 that extend to contact-pieces c c of keys D D These keys are normally out of contact with the contact-pieces c 0'. By depressing either of those keys it may be caused to touch its contact-piece, and thereupon will be in electrical communication with the Wire 0.

The key D has a wire, E, connected withit, I

and the key D has a wire, E, connected with it. The wire Eis connected with the vibrator of a pole-changing device, F, and the wire E is connected with the vibrator of a pole-changing device F The pole-changing'device F operates to connect a battery, G, with the line-wire E alternately by difi'erent poles, so that while the key D is depressed an electric current will flow alternately in dillerent directions from the battery G to the wire 0, and thence over. the line-wire A to the subscriber.

By means of the pole-changing device F a battery, G will be connected first by one pole and then by the other to the wire E, and consequent-1y a current of electricity will be caused to flow from this battery over the wire E to the wire 0 whenever the key D is depressed, and thence to the subscriber.

I will describe the pole-changing devices F F more in detail. As both are alike, I will letter the corresponding parts similarly, and

the description which I shall give will apply equally to both.

ff designate electro-magnets having cores wound with coils of wire and connected so as to present different poles toward each other. The coils of wire are connected in such manner that when a current of electricity passes through them the adjacentlpoles of the two cores will be of different kinds-one north and the other south. Between the adjacent poles extends a vibratory armature, f, which is suspended from a pin, f. This armature is a permanent magnet; consequcntlyit will be re pelled by one and attracted by the other of the two adjacent poles of the electro-magnets. Obviously by changing the polarity of the ad. jacent poles of the electro-magnets the armaturef will be caused to vibrate in different directions. The arnlaturef is connected by wire f with one of the coils of the electromagnets. The other coil of the electro-magnets is connected by a wire, f", with a pair of contact-pieces, f One pole of a battery, 9, is connected by a wire,f, with a resilient contact f. The other pole of said batteryg is connected by a wire, f, with a resilient contact-piece, f". The armature f constitutes a vibrator. It is provided with a cross-piece, f which is insulated from it and always impinges against one of the resilient contactpieces f f, and holds it away from the adj acent contact-piecef Vhen the armature or vibratorf impinges against one of the resilient contact-piecesf f and separates it from the contact-piecef it allows the other of the resilientcontactpieces f l f 9 to impinge against the adjacent contact-piece f As this armature or vibrator operates, therefore, the connection of the electro-magnets ff with the battery 9 is reversed, so that the electric current from the latter will flow alternately in different directions through the coils of these electromagnets.

. The vibrator f extends down between two resilient contact-pieces, /9 and between them is provided with a cross-piece,f, forming a contact-piece. The resilient contact-pieces g g are connected .by wires 9 g with the batteries G G Between the resilient contactpieces g are two contact-pieces, h 7L2, which are connected with wires H H leading to the ground. When the vibrator or armature f swings in one direction it separates one of the resilient contact-pieces g g from the corresponding one of the contact-pieces h If, and allows the other of the resilient contacts, g to touch the adjacent one of the contact-pieces h h The electric currents of the batteries G G will thus have been sent in different directions over the line-wire A during the times that the keys D D are depressed.

The line-wire A is connected in the sub scribers office with a switch-lever, I, upon one end of which the telephone-receiverJ is hung while not in use. This switch-lever is fulcrumed to a pin, t. hen the receiver is hung upon one end of it the other end will swing away from a contact-piece, 7t, and against a contact-piece, Z. As soon as the receiver J is removed fronrthe switch-lever I the latter I will be shifted by means of a spring, t", so as to leave the contact-piece Z and impinge against the contact-piece Zr. As the switch-lever I is made of metal it will establish electrical communieation between the line-wire A and the i is connected by wires 7.: 7f with a battery, k

When the receiver J is removed from the switch lever I the latter establishes electrical communication between the line-wire A and the telephone transmitter and receiver; but when the receiver is hung upon the switclr lever this communication is severed.

The contact-piece Z is connected by a wire,

Z, with the coils of an electro-magnct, L. The coil of this electro-magnet is also connected with the coil of an electromagnet, M, which at the other end is connected by a wire, m, with the ground.

The electro-inagnet M forms part of an electro-inagnet bell, and, as shown, has a rocking armature fulcrumed between the ends, and consisting of a permanent magnet, so that when the current of the battery employed to operate it in the central office flows through the cores of the electro-magnet in the reverse directions the armature will be vibrated or rocked first in one direction and then in the other. This armature carries the clapper of the bell, and consequently the bell is struck once for each rock of the armature.

The coils of the electro-magnet L are of lower resistancethan the coils of the electro-magnet M. Consequently when the key Dis depressed in the central ofliee to connect the battery G with the lineqvire A the electro magnet L will not be energized sulficiently to attract its armature; but when the key D isdepresscd to connect the battery G with the line-wire A this battery, being more powerful, will energize the electromagnet L sufliciently to cause it to attract its armature.

The armature of the electro-magnet L is fulcrumed at Z It has rigidly affixed to it an arm, Z which swings laterally when the armature swings up and down.

vN designates a lever, which is fuleiumed between the -ends and which has a sign afiixed to one arm and a counterbalancing-weight affixed to the other arm. The arm Z of the armature L of the electro-magnet L will swing the lever N, by touching a toe, in one direction whenever the armature is attracted by the electro-magnet. Then the sign carried by the lever N will be made visible through an opening in a case, in conjunction with which it op- The other wire of the ICO IIO

crates. When the switch-lever I is moved down by the spring t against the contact-piece k,it comes in contact with the lever N and vibrates it into a position to conceal the sign carried by it withinthe case.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that if the operator in the central officeis able to make the connection necessary for the communication desired by the subscriber calling upon him, all he has to do, after the necessary connection has been made, is to depress the key D, for then the electro-magnet M of the subscribers electro-magnetic call-bell will be operated and the electro-magnet Lwill not be operated. The ringing of the call-bell will then indicate to the subscriber that the connection has been made and that he may comm unicate as he desires with another subscriber.

If the operator at the central office desires to communicate with a calling subscriber that it is impossible for the person to make the connection necessary for the desired communication, he will only have to depress the key D. Then the battery G will cause the armature U of the electro-magnet L to be attracted, as well as to vibrate the armature of the electro-magnet M, belonging to the call-bell. The callbell will therefore be rung to attract the subscribers attention, and the sign carried by the lever N will be displayed so as to indicate to the calling subscriber that it has been impossible to make the desired connection. This the subscriber can learn without leaving his posi tion. He will therefore be saved much annoyance, and vunnecessary waste of his time and that of the operator at the central officewill be avoided.

My improvement is not at all dependent upon the use of a sign such as I have described; but it involves means'of any kind whereby two distinct signalsmay be given through the employment of two batteries or two different pole-changers to asubscriber by the operator at the central office, for the purpose of indicating to the subscriber, without 7 causing the latter to step to the telephone and listen at the receiver, either that all necessary connections have been made or that the necessary connections could not be made to afford him the desired communication.

A simple way to provide for giving two distinct signals would be to so constitute the pole-changing device F that it would operate with a greater or less rapidity than the polechanging device F, for then the subscribers call-bell would be rung in different manners by the two batteries G G and the electro-magnet L and lever N could be dispensed with. One way of accomplishing this would be to give greater weight to the vibratory armature f in the pole-changing device F than that of the corresponding armature in thepole-changing device F. Such a construction I have shown in dotted outline at the lower end of the first-mentioned armature.

What I claim as my invention, and secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a telephone system, electromagnetic signaling apparatus at a subscribers office, a switchboard at the central offioe, batteries at the central office capable of producing two distinct signals, mechanism for connecting the batteries temporarily with the switch-board, so as to produce different current-strength, a wire extending to the subscribers office and adapted to be connected to the switch-board,

and a switch at the subscribers office withv which said wire is connected, all being combined substantially as specified, whereby different signals may be given to the subscriber from the central office.

2. In a telephone system, a signaling apparatus at a subscriber s office, two batteries at the central office, a switch-board at the central ofilce, mech anism for connecting the batteries temporarily with the switch-board, a line-wire extending to the subscribers office,

- keys whereby either of these batteries may be connected with said line-wire, a switch at the s'ubscribers office with which said line-wire is connected, and pole-changing apparatus connected with the batteries, all being combined substantially as described, whereby the polechanging apparatus will operate when in use at different rapidities, so as to operate the signaling apparatus at the subscribers office difdesire to ferently, and thereby produce a different signal for the subscriber.

3. In a telephone system, the combination of two "electromagnetic signaling apparatus at the subscribers office having their magnetcoils'of different resistance, two batteries of different potentials'at the central office, and keys whereby these batteries may be connected with the line-wire extending to the subscribers office, substantially as specified.

4. In a telephone system, a signaling appa-. ratus at a subscribers office, a switch-board at the central office, a line-wire extending to the subscribers office, aswitch at the subscribers office with which said line-wire is connected, and two different mechanisms at the central office for transmitting different signals to the Witnesses:

. GEO. F. OHrNNooK, EDWIN H. BROWN. 

